Malaysia Poised To Become ASEAN, China Economic Corridor: Economist

By Niam Seet Wei and Sharifah Pirdaus Syed Ali KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, with its strong economic fundamentals and strategic geographical location, is expected to become an important economic corridor for ASEAN and China over the next five years, said IQI Group Holdings Chief Economist, Shan Saeed. He said Malaysia's economy which remained resilient despite global economic challenges, helped improve foreign investor confidence in the country. "With our positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the economy is growing at a very steady pace, and continue to attract foreign investments, especially from China. “It is known that foreign investors only invest in countries with a booming economy, strong demographics and productive people," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) Third National Economic Summit on Tuesday. Last month, the World Bank revised Malaysia's 2017 GDP growth upwards to 4.9 per cent from the earlier target of 4.3 per cent. Shan said Prime Minister Najib Razak's diplomatic manoeuvre, particularly with China and Saudi Arabia, had improved Malaysia's status in the eyes of the world. "Investments from the two countries brought about a big impact globally. The US$175 billion (US$1=RM4.27) investment, (US$144 billion from China, US$31 billion from Saudi Arabia) would be good for the country’s economy," he said. On Malaysia’s geographical advantage, Shan said historically, through the Straits of Melaka, 80 per cent of China's trade have pass through the country. "Malaysia’s location would continue to be viewed very importantly by foreign investors, particularly from China, with huge investment earmarked for development based on the geographical advantage. "Therefore, I see China will have stronger co-relations with Malaysia and its allies to gain economic advantage," he added. Shan said concerns that China's investment would not bring spillover effects to local businesses could be addressed with continued engagement strategies between the Malaysian government, Chinese businesses and their local partners. "However, these investors not only bring in their technology and human resources, but also their investment. "All investors look at two things -- technology transfer and investment," he added. Moving forward, Shan said he was optimistic of Malaysia's GDP hitting over US$1 trillion by 2030 from the current US$335 billion, citing the forecast by the renowned accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2016. -- BERNAMA